Preparing for the Twenty-First Century A Report to the USGS Water Resources Division (1991) / Chapter Skim
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2 Future WRD Roles and Interactions
2 Future WRD Roles and Interactions
Pages 16-24
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From page 16... ...
It has built a resource of expertise, particularly in the fields of hydrology, hydrogeology, geology, geophysics, geochemistry, engineering, and, more recently, biology. Despite the agency's long history, the nation's relatively recent environmental awakening has resulted in substantial increases in water resources activity and funding in agencies other than the USGS.
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From page 17... ...
This chapter discusses ways in which the WRD should cooperate with other federal agencies, states, universities, and other research organizations. It also recommends how the WRD can promote technology transfer most efficiently: both inside and outside its offices.
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From page 19... ...
The circular specified that the WRD, through its Office of Water Data Coordination, should: · lead the coordination of water data from the agencies that collect it; · review requirements for water data; · prepare a federal plan for more efficient data collection; · maintain a central catalog of existing data and federal plans for acquiring more data; · design and operate a national network for acquiring data on the quality and quantity of surface and ground water; and · organize the national network and catalog to facilitate the data's maximum use. The major accomplishments of the A-67 coordination process have been the establishment of the National Water Data Network and the Catalog of Information on Water Data, the publication of the National Handbook of Recommended Methods for Water Data Acquisition and a series of hydrologic unit maps, sponsorship of conferences and meetings, and the development of consensus standards.
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From page 20... ...
This change may mean that many states will have to increase their own expertise in water resources, gradually replacing some WRD personnel from projects that address primarily state and local concerns. The WRD could help the states in acquiring greater technical competence and autonomy by involving state personnel in cooperative studies, advising on programs, and providing training through short courses.
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From page 21... ...
Program, established to promote academic research into whole ecosystems, such as watersheds, rain forests, and prairies. At the site, WRD researchers worked alongside university researchers studying plant communities as indicators of global change; WRD staff focused on water resources aspects of the project.
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From page 22... ...
A second way the WRD can improve technology transfer to outside scientists is by expanding its sponsorship of conferences, workshops, and seminars. Internal Technology Transfer There are three paths for internal technology transfer at the WRD: between district offices, between National Research Program scientists and district offices, and between WRD scientists and USGS management.
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From page 23... ...
A technical newsletter would help overcome these communication barriers by providing a regular forum for WRD technical discourse. - A policy newsletter would improve communication between WRD scientists and managers at the USGS and other federal and state agencies.
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From page 24... ...
And it would help educate students in scientific areas in which the shortage of welltrained people is acute.2 2 See the recent (1991) Water Science and Technology Board publication, Onnortunities in the Hydrologic Sciences, for extensive discussion of frontiers and education in the hydrologic sciences.
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